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Dodgers Come Back, Win World Series

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TORONTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – In 2025, the Los Angeles Dodgers came back to the World Series. They came back in Game 7, too. They came all the way back to become the first repeat winners of the World Series since the New York Yankees hit the trifecta in 1998-2000.

Will Smith hit a home run with two outs in the 11th to send the Dodgers to a 5-4 Game 7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night. The Dodgers were down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series after a Game 5 loss on Wednesday.

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Smith’s second homer of the postseason came on a shot to left on a 2-0 slider from Shane Bieber (2-1).

The Dodgers overcame a 4-2 deficit, tying the game at 4 on Miguel Rojas’ first homer of the postseason on a Jeff Hoffman 3-2 slider with one out in the ninth.

“There was so many pressure points and how that game could have flipped,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And we just kept fighting, and guys stepped up big. So I could just go on and on about the big plays, the big performances. It’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever been a part of, and this whole series and what the Blue Jays did and they gave us everything they had and just such a first-class organization.”

In keeping with the rallying theme, Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-1), who pitched six innings to earn the win in Game 6 on Friday, came back Saturday to pitch the final 2 2/3 scoreless innings to win Game 7. He also pitched a complete game to win Game 2 and was named World Series MVP.

“It’s unheard of, and I think that there’s a mind component, there’s a delivery, which is a flawless delivery, and there’s just an unwavering will,” Roberts said. “I just haven’t seen it. I really haven’t. You know, all that combined. And there’s certain players that want moments and there’s certain players that want it for the right reasons, but Yoshi is a guy that I just completely implicitly trust and he’s made me a pretty dang good manager.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the home 11th with a double against Yamamoto. Guerrero took third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice. Addison Barger walked before Alejandro Kirk grounded into a season-ending double play.

“Man, it’s hard. I had my first team meeting of the year after the game,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “There’s so many things that to unpack there, not just the series as a whole, seven games, two of them go to extras. I thought we played great baseball, both teams having chances there late. I feel for the guys. This is a special group of guys.”

Both teams had chances to win earlier. In the home ninth, Blake Snell allowed a one-out single and a walk before Yamamoto came in to load the bases with a hit batter before getting a force at home and a flyout to force extra innings.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the 10th against Seranthony Dominguez but failed to score.

Max Muncy also homered for the Dodgers and Bo Bichette hit a three-run homer for the Blue Jays.

Toronto’s Ernie Clement had three hits to set a postseason record of 30. He extended his postseason hit streak to 13 games, a franchise record.

“Historic,” Schneider said. “You don’t see that very often. We’re talking about really good pitchers, right-handers, left-handers. Ernie had a phenomenal year. I hope he wins a Gold Glove. He should. And he kind of became one of the faces of our team because of the way he plays.”

George Springer added three hits for Toronto.

Shohei Ohtani, L.A.’s Game 4 starter, allowed Springer’s leadoff single in the third. Springer took second on Nathan Lukes’ sacrifice and moved to third on a wild pitch to Guerrero, who was then walked intentionally. Bichette smashed a first-pitch slider to center for his first homer of the postseason and the Blue Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Ohtani allowed three runs, five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.

Smith doubled high off the wall in left-center against Toronto starter Max Scherzer to start the fourth and took third on Freddie Freeman’s single. Muncy walked with one out. Center fielder Daulton Varsho made a diving catch on Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly but Smith scored.

Scherzer allowed one run, four hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Toronto’s Chris Bassitt walked Mookie Betts to start the sixth. Muncy singled and was out at second on Hernandez’s bouncer to the mound. Tommy Edman hit a sacrifice fly to center.

Clement led off the home sixth with a single, stole second and scored on Andres Gimenez’s double to center.

Toronto’s Trey Yesavage allowed Muncy’s third homer of the postseason with one out in the eighth on a 1-1 splitter.

–Field Level Media

Greatest Words in Sports: Game Seven!

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TORONTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – As if there were not enough drama, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays will go at it again – TONIGHT – in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.

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The teams played an 18-inning Game 3 in Los Angeles, won 6-5 by the Dodgers on Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run. Then came the ending of Game 6 on Friday. With the Dodgers leading by two runs, one out and runners on second and third, Andres Gimenez lined out to left fielder Enrique Hernandez, who threw to second baseman Miguel Rojas to double off Addison Barger at second.

That completed the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory to set up a Game 7 in the World Series for the first time since 2019, when the Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros.

It will be the seventh elimination or call it, in this case, winner-take-all, game of the 2025 postseason, matching 2012 for the most.

After the Friday contest, the term “all hands on deck” was thrown around frequently when referring to pitching possibilities for Game 7.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that he had not decided on a starter. He did say that Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles’ Game 3 starter who got the final three outs of Game 6 for his first career save, would be available.

“They are all possibilities,” he said.

That includes Game 4 starter Shohei Ohtani, who could either open or relieve.

“Just kind of figuring out what his temperature is on starting versus coming out of the ‘pen, and so we’re close to a decision,” Roberts said.

Toronto will go with Max Scherzer (1-0, 4.50 ERA postseason), who started Game 3.

Scherzer will be starting his second career World Series Game 7. The other was with the Nationals in 2019, when he threw five innings of two-run ball in a no-decision.

“No better guy to have on the mound to kind of navigate the emotions, the stuff,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Max has been getting ready for Game 7 when he knew he was pitching Game 3. So all the confidence in the world in him and everyone (Saturday).”

Scherzer allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings during the Game 3 marathon.

The Dodgers are trying to become the first repeat World Series champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

“I’m excited. It’s going to be fun,” said Los Angeles catcher Will Smith, who hit an RBI double in Game 6. “We work all year long to be in this situation to win a ballgame and win a World Series.”

Roberts added, “We’re going to leave it out there. I don’t think that the pressure, the moment’s going to be too big for us. We got to go out there and win one baseball game. We’ve done that all year.”

The Blue Jays will be trying to win their first World Series since they won back-to-back titles in 1992-93, their only previous appearances in the Fall Classic.

Toronto is headed to its second Game 7 of the 2025 postseason. The Blue Jays won Games 6 and 7 at home to take the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners.

Schneider believes his team is good at keeping things as normal as possible, and he expects the same on Saturday.

We’ve done that a lot this year,” Schneider said. “We’ve got voices in the clubhouse and people in the coaching staff that will keep it normal (Saturday). It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be three or four or five hours of mayhem and great baseball.

“But these guys are going to be ready for it. Hopefully they get to slow some things down but enjoy it. It’s Game 7 of the World Series at your home stadium. I mean, what the hell else do you want?”

–Field Level Media

Blue Jays One Big Win Away

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LOS ANGELES – (Wire Service Report) – From Class-A to a class of his own, Trey Yesavage put the Toronto Blue Jays one victory away from a championship.

The rookie dominated with 12 strikeouts, Davis Schneider hit a home run on the opening pitch and the Toronto Blue Jays cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday.

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The result sends Toronto home with a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series.

Yesavage, who made his major league debut in September after pitching at four minor league levels this year, set a rookie record for strikeouts in a World Series game. He also became the first pitcher with at least 12 strikeouts and no walks in a Fall Classic contest.

“Yeah, it’s a crazy world. Crazy world,” Yesavage said. “Hollywood couldn’t have made it this good. So just being a part of this, I’m just very blessed.”

The 22-year-old, who has started two of the Blue Jays’ three victories in the series, allowed one run on three hits over seven innings.

“Historic stuff,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “When you talk about that stage and his numbers, getting ahead of a lot of hitters, tons of swing-and-miss. … I said it before the game, he’s a different pitcher when he has his stuff.”

Schneider’s homer was followed by one from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the third pitch of the game, leaving the Blue Jays in need of a victory either in Game 6 on Friday or Game 7 on Saturday to win their first title in 32 years. The remainder of the series will be contested in Toronto.

Enrique Hernandez hit a home run for the Dodgers, while veteran Blake Snell was charged with five runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. Snell walked four and fanned seven.

Los Angeles star Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4, making him 0-for-7 over the past two games after he reached base a World Series-record nine times in Game 3.

“It doesn’t feel great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his team’s offense. “You clearly see those (Toronto) guys finding ways to get hits, move the baseball forward, and we’re not doing a good job of it. I thought Yesavage was good tonight mixing his fastball, slider and the split.”

The Dodgers shook up the lineup by moving Will Smith to the No. 2 spot and dropping Mookie Betts to No. 3. Alex Call also started in the outfield over a struggling Andy Pages, all to no avail. Los Angeles has scored four runs over the past 29 innings.

“We faced this last year,” the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman said about last year’s best-of-five National League Division Series. “We were down 2-1 to the Padres and won two games in a row, so we can do it again.”

Yesavage (3-1) ended up taking over, but only after the Toronto offense set the tone from the start.

Schneider hit Snell’s 97 mph fastball to open the game over the wall in left field, his first in seven postseason games. Guerrero waited two pitches before depositing a 96 mph fastball from Snell also to left, his eighth of the postseason and second of the World Series.

Yesavage opened the third inning by fanning Max Muncy, his fifth consecutive strikeout to set a World Series record by a rookie. Hernandez ended the run with a home run to left to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 2-1.

Los Angeles right fielder Teoscar Hernandez misplayed a hit down the right field line by Daulton Varsho that turned into a triple to lead off the fourth, and Ernie Clement followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead.

Snell (3-2) left the game in the seventh inning with two outs and two aboard. The Blue Jays cashed in both runners against Edgardo Henriquez on a run-scoring wild pitch and an RBI single from Bo Bichette for a 5-1 lead.

“Vlad is a really good hitter so you got to do stuff there, but the rest of the lineup, they’re ambushing,” said Snell, who lamented what he called bad luck. “If we get to a Game 7, I’ll see them again, so I can’t say much.”

Toronto’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa added an RBI single in the eighth.

Blue Jays relievers Seranthony Dominguez and Jeff Hoffman each pitched a scoreless inning to seal the win.

– Field Level Media

World Series: Dodgers vs Guerrero Jr.

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TORONTO – (Wire Service Report) – Given the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting pitching dominance in the postseason, manager Dave Roberts could pick anybody in the rotation and feel good about his team’s chances.

But after the way left-hander Blake Snell and righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto performed in the first two games of the NLCS, why change anything for the World Series?

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Roberts confirmed this line of thinking on Tuesday as he tabbed Snell and Yamamoto to start on Friday and Saturday in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Both will be working on 10 days’ rest.

“I think we’re going to run the same rotation back, I think for sure for the first two,” Roberts said.

Snell, who inked a five-year, $182 million deal with the Dodgers in the offseason, threw 21 innings versus National League competition in the playoffs and allowed just two runs (0.86 ERA) and six hits. He blanked strong-hitting teams in Philadelphia and Milwaukee — highlighted by allowing just one hit over eight innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers.

Yamamoto threw a complete game the next night in Game 2 against Milwaukee, allowing 1 run on 3 hits.

Both of those efforts came on the road, the same challenge the duo will face against the hot-hitting Blue Jays.

Roberts has other outstanding options for Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles as power right-handers Tyler Glasnow (0.68 playoff ERA) and Shohei Ohtani are lined for those games.

The Dodgers’ relative weakness — the bullpen — may get a lift in the World Series. Southpaw Tanner Scott, who missed the last two series after an emergency surgical procedure, could return to boost that group.

Scott, another free-agent acquisition this winter, earned 23 saves but struggled at times. He blew 10 saves and pitched to a 4.74 ERA.

“It’s just kind of trying to get a grasp on the doctors giving him the full kind of green light, the go-ahead,” Roberts said. “I know that he’s anxious, which is a good thing, but fortunately, we get to see for a couple more days how he responds to throwing and bullpens and things like that.”

–Field Level Media

Ohtani Leads LA with All-Time Outing

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LOS ANGELES  – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Instead of postgame orange slices there was champagne as Shohei Ohtani made the one of baseball’s biggest stages look like Little League.

Ohtani was a one-man show, hitting three home runs and striking out 10 in six-plus scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers advanced to the World Series for the second consecutive season with a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

Ohtani hit home runs in the first, fourth and seventh innings as the defending champion Dodgers swept the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. Los Angeles will attempt to become the first team to win consecutive titles since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998-2000.

Ohtani (2-0), who gave up two hits and walked three, became the first pitcher in major league history — regular season or postseason — to hit three home runs and strike out at least one in the same game. The performance earned him series MVP honors.

The two-way star went deep for the first time since he hit a pair of homers in the wild-card opener against the Cincinnati Reds. Ohtani, a three-time regular-season MVP, entered the night batting .121 (4-for-33) over his previous eight games.

“There were times during the postseason where (Teoscar Hernandez) and Mookie (Betts) picked me up. And this time around it was my turn to be able to perform,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “Just looking back over the course of the entire postseason, I haven’t performed to expectations, but I think today we saw what the left-handed hitters could do.”

Los Angeles is headed to the World Series for the fifth time in nine seasons, getting past the Brewers in the NLCS for the second time in that stretch (2018).

Veteran left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1) allowed three runs on six hits over two-plus innings as the Brewers saw their season end after compiling the majors’ best regular-season record at 97-65. Quintana walked one and fanned one.

Milwaukee ended the four-game series with four total runs on 14 hits.

“Obviously, the last five days were not good, not the way we wanted to go,” said the Brewers’ Christian Yelich, who went 1-for-14 with two walks in the series. “It’s how it (can) be sometimes, and hopefully we can learn from this as a team and get back to this point and take that next step.”

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Ohtani opened the game from the mound by walking Brice Turang. He followed that by striking out the next three Milwaukee batters, then led off the bottom of the first inning with a 446-foot home run to right field on Quintana’s sixth pitch. He became the first Dodgers pitcher to hit a home run in a playoff game.

Los Angeles put up two more runs in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead on an RBI single from Tommy Edman and a run-scoring groundout from Teoscar Hernandez.

Ohtani did not give up a hit until Jackson Chourio doubled to lead off the fourth. The right-hander retired the next three Milwaukee batters, including the last two by strikeout.

Ohtani belted a 469-foot home run in the fourth inning that landed on top of the corrugated metal roof at the back of the right field bleachers. He added a 427-foot homer to center field in the seventh as the Dodgers took a 5-0 lead.

“What he did on the mound, what he did at the bat, he created a lot of memories for a lot of people,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So to do it in a game-clinching game at home, wins the NLCS MVP, it’s pretty special. I’m just happy to be able to go along for the ride.”

After walking Yelich and giving up a single to William Contreras to open the top of the seventh inning, Ohtani left the mound to a standing ovation. Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda and Roki Sasaki recorded the final nine outs.

The Brewers’ lone run came on a Turang RBI forceout in the eighth.

“We were part of, tonight, an iconic, maybe the best individual performance ever in a postseason game,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I don’t think anybody can argue with that. A guy punches out 10 and hits three homers. (But) I’m really proud of our team. I admire our team.”

–Doug Padilla, Field Level Media

Red Sox: “Big Series” vs LA Dodgers

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Los Angeles Dodgers may be without a key piece of their lineup Friday when they begin a nine-game road trip by opening a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

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Following Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said shortstop Mookie Betts could miss Friday’s game while he takes care of a personal matter.

“There might be some things going on that he might not be around, that he’s got to deal with personally,” Roberts said. “Everything is OK with him, but yeah, we’ll see.”

Betts spent the first six seasons of his career in Boston and was the American League MVP in 2018, when he led the Red Sox to a World Series victory over the Dodgers. Betts was traded to the Dodgers in 2020 for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. He’s been an All-Star and earned MVP votes in four of his first five years with Los Angeles.

Betts started a ninth-inning rally in Wednesday’s win with a two-out infield single. After Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked and Esteury Ruiz worked a walk to load the bases, Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending two-run single.

The Dodgers are 2-4 since the All-Star break after going 2-7 before it.

“We needed that one,” said Freeman, who was hitting .210 in July before collecting two hits Wednesday. “That was a huge win for us. Huge series win.”

Boston will likely be short-handed for the weekend series as well, since third baseman Marcelo Mayer left Wednesday’s 9-8 victory over Philadelphia in the fifth inning and was wearing a brace on his right wrist following the game. Mayer said he expects to have an MRI soon.

“I just felt a little tight grab in my wrist when I took a swing in my second at-bat,” Mayer said. “I knew I really couldn’t do anything after that, so I just called it (a day).”

Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning of Wednesday’s win after being called for catcher’s interference against the Phillies on Monday and Tuesday. The Phillies prevailed 3-2 Monday when the interference call came with no outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning.

“You gotta move forward,” Narvaez said. “You gotta stay on the attack mode.”

Like the Dodgers, the Red Sox are 2-4 since the All-Star break.

Friday’s pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers in Boston’s Brayan Bello (6-4, 3.23 ERA) and Los Angeles’ Emmet Sheehan (1-1. 4.41 ERA).

Bello allowed three runs on five hits in six innings during his only career appearance against the Dodgers last season. Sheehan, who pitched at nearby Boston College, has never faced the Red Sox.

Ohtani enters Friday’s matchup with a home run in each of his last five games. The MLB record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, held by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993).

“I do know that if he has the same approach that he’s had, that Green Monster is very short, so any fly ball that he hits will be a homer,” Roberts said of Ohtani, who has a pair of long home runs toward left field this week. “So he’s just got to continue to have that same approach when we go to Boston, and then we’ll see what happens.”

–Field Level Media

A Dodgers Dynasty to Be

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto Signs with LA for $325m

LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After signing reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract earlier this month, the Dodgers have landed star Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a 12-year, $325 million deal Thursday, per multiple media reports.

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Yamamato’s deal would eclipse New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s deal by $1 million, making it the largest contract for a pitcher in major league history. The Dodgers will also pay $50.6 million in a posting fee for Yamamoto.

The New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays also pursued Yamamoto.

Yamamoto spent the past six-plus seasons with the Orix Buffaloes, compiling a 70-29 record with one save and a 1.82 ERA in 172 games. He has struck out 922 batters over 897 innings.

In 23 games in 2023, he finished with a 16-6 record and 1.21 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. Those numbers helped him to his third straight Triple Crown in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball as he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

Only three pitchers in Major League Baseball have won the pitching Triple Crown three times — Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Yamamoto also has won the Eiji Sawamura Award, which equals the Cy Young Award, three times.

The 5-foot-10 Yamamoto won a gold medal with Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

–Field Level Media

Betts, Freeman Out-Slug Red Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – LA Dodgers all-stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman each went 3-for-5 as the 1-2 punch in the lineup as the visiting Dodgers posted a 7-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

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Betts scored twice and drove in three runs, matching James Outman with a home run for Los Angeles, which won the series and moved to 6-2 in its last eight games.

Freeman and Miguel Rojas each hit two doubles. Freeman’s second double was his 50th of the season.

Outman and Max Muncy also had two hits apiece. The Dodgers totaled 14 hits on the afternoon.

Gavin Stone (1-0) relieved opener Caleb Ferguson, pitching six innings to earn the decision. All four runs he allowed came on three home runs.

Stone’s day ended after Justin Turner and Adam Duvall hit back-to-back homers to start the eighth for the Red Sox.

Triston Casas also left the yard for Boston. Duvall and Casas were both 2-for-4 and combined for three RBIs and three runs.

Red Sox Try to Slow 20-3 Dodgers

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to continue their hot August when they play the middle contest of a three-game road series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon. Los Angeles is 20-3 this month after registering a come-from-behind, 7-4 win Friday in the series opener.

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While Freddie Freeman had four hits and three runs, the return of Mookie Betts for his first-ever road game in Boston was the major story. The former Red Sox star doubled and scored twice.

“I had the time of my life playing here. I think a lot of people do,” said Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers in February 2020 after winning a World Series and an American League MVP trophy with the Red Sox in 2018. “I knew every day you put the uniform on, you’ve got to play well, no matter what. Or the fans, the people, will let you know. … That’s why I enjoyed it.”

Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias (11-6, 4.15 ERA) will aim for his fifth consecutive win when he takes the ball on Saturday. He is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in five starts since his last loss, on July 19 at Baltimore.

Urias, the reigning National League ERA champion, has pitched seven innings in back-to-back outings, matching his career high. Last Saturday against the Miami Marlins, he yielded one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

The southpaw’s hot streak also includes a 12-strikeout performance against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 13.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “You can really finish strong and make it a great year. There’s still plenty of baseball left.”

Urias has made just one career regular-season appearance against Boston, pitching two perfect innings of relief on July 13, 2019. He also pitched three times out of the bullpen against the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series, giving up one run in three innings.

The Red Sox had won five of their past seven games before falling on Friday, a stretch that featured a 17-1 win at Houston in which they set season-high marks for runs and hits (24).

On Friday, Alex Verdugo and Trevor Story homered to help Boston’s 14-hit attack, but it wasn’t enough.

“Obviously, there for like a month and a half, we struggled in the power department,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “But lately some of the big boys are finding their stroke and hitting the ball in the air and out of the ballpark.”

For Story, it was his first homer of the season in his 14th game. He missed the first 112 games while recovering from right elbow surgery.

“I feel like we’re at the point where we’re playing a lot of really good teams,” he said. “We’re going to find out who we are and if we’re going to be in the postseason.”

Boston southpaw James Paxton (7-4, 3.79 ERA) will make the start on Saturday. He has pitched at least five innings in 13 of his 17 starts this year, but he took a loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits across four frames on Monday against the Astros.

Paxton has been excellent at home this season, pitching to a 2.58 ERA in 38 1/3 innings. In two career starts against the Dodgers, HE is 1-0 with a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings.

–Field Level Media

Mookie, Dodgers Down Red Sox, 7-4

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – LA’s Freddie Freeman went 4-for-5 with a go-ahead RBI double and three runs scored to lead the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers to a come-from-behind, 7-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in Friday night’s series opener.

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Dodgers’ third baseman Max Muncy had two hits and three RBIs, while former Red Sox OF Mookie Betts doubled and scored twice in his first game as a visitor in Boston, helping the Dodgers to their third straight win and 20th of 23 in August games.

L.A. starter Lance Lynn (10-9) won despite working around 10 hits and three earned runs in six innings.

Evan Phillips notched his 20th save with a scoreless ninth.

Five Red Sox got multiple hits, including OF Alex Verdugo (who was traded for Betts) and SS Trevor Story who both homered.

Verdugo deposited the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning into the bullpen for his second homer in three games.

The Red Sox lead increased to 3-0 in the second as Story hit a two-run homer into the first section of Green Monster Seats. It was Story’s first this season after he missed the first 112 games (right elbow UCL repair).

After allowing a leadoff single in the third, Boston starter Kutter Crawford struck out four straight and five of the next six batters to help him complete five innings of two-run, four-hit ball.

Crawford moved through a 1-2-3 fifth before the visitors struck for three runs in the sixth. A Betts double off the Monster and Freeman’s knock to left started the rally, ending the Boston starter’s day.

With Nick Pivetta (9-7) in, Will Smith’s line double to left got L.A. on the board. Muncy’s RBI grounder made it 3-2, and former Red Sox Enrique Hernandez lined a game-tying base hit to center.

The Dodgers took the lead in the seventh when Freeman ripped a double into left-center that rolled towards the warning track. Two batters later, Muncy lined a two-out, two-run double to plate two more for a 6-3 lead.

Lynn departed with no outs and two on in the seventh, and Brusdar Graterol worked out of the jam. He allowed just one run to score caused by a Muncy throwing error on Justin Turner’s force out.

David Peralta’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers another insurance run in the ninth.

–Field Level Media